Hey and welcome back to another week! 👋 

In this issue:

• A Tough Question Answered: What to include in your portfolio? Let’s shine some light on it.

• Vibecoding before Christmas: I’m running my vibecoding workshop with Lovable one last time this year. Lock in, save with my discount and use the holidays to build something cool right after!

• Inika’s Portfolio: A portfolio likely like none you’ve seen before!

😎 VIBECODE WITH ME ONE LAST TIME IN 2025

Learn How To Use Lovable To Create Amazing Prototypes And Apps From Scratch

This is the third time I run this workshop and the last one in 2025—and the previous two sold out quick! Make sure to book this one and learn how to leverage AI, vibecoding and a builder mindset to stand out.

We are building cool stuff on December 9 (5:30 PM - 7:00 PM GMT+1)

This is what you’ll get:

• ​Build without code: Get hands-on with Lovable and turn your ideas into functional, interactive apps — without writing a single line of code.

• ​Boost your prototyping edge: Master the fastest way to validate ideas, impress stakeholders, and iterate at the speed of creativity.

• ​Premium tools to keep building: Every attendee gets 1 month Lovable Pro account with 100 credits to continue building after the workshop.

Open Doors readers can save 25% by using the code OPENDOORS on the regular price at checkout!

Choosing the Right Case Studies for Your Portfolio 👀

Your portfolio evolves as you evolve. The projects you started with won’t be the projects that carry you forward forever. And especially as a junior, the question isn’t “What should I show?” — it’s “What do I show when I don’t have much real-world work yet?”

That’s the blessing and the curse. You have to choose your projects deliberately, but you also get to choose. And the way you choose them determines whether your portfolio feels intentional or random, aligned or unfocused, strategic or unconvincing.

This is a guide to doing that with clarity — tailored to the realities of 2025, where competition is stronger, expectations are higher, and the tools available to you are significantly better than they used to be.

Start With What You Already Have

Before deciding what to add, look at your portfolio as if you were trying to hire yourself today. Not one year ago, not three months ago — today.

Is everything in there still at the level you’re capable of?

Does any piece feel noticeably weaker than the rest?

Does the whole thing move in the direction you want your career to move in?

Most portfolios don’t need more projects.

They need fewer, better-chosen ones.

Three to four strong case studies that sit comfortably next to each other will take you further than six projects that make you look inconsistent. And if you feel emotionally attached to your earlier work, that’s usually the clearest sign that it no longer belongs there.

This is less about pruning and more about clarity.

The Bigger Question: Where Do You Want Your Work to Point?

A portfolio isn’t just a record of what you’ve done — it’s a signal. It tells employers what to expect from you and whether you understand their world.

But here’s the mistake I see constantly:

Designers either niche way too narrowly…or they niche not at all.

Someone excited about healthcare builds three healthcare apps.

Someone who likes fashion builds only fashion concepts.

Someone who finds fintech interesting goes full fintech.

And then they panic:

“Am I limiting myself by doing this?”

The answer is:

Yes — if you niche at the wrong level.

No — if you understand how to position yourself properly.

If you exclusively brand yourself as a “healthcare designer,” you will inevitably limit yourself.

But if you zoom out one level and anchor your work around the patterns behind these products — workflows, complex data, decision-support tools, e-commerce mechanics, marketplace logic — suddenly your case study becomes transferable across multiple domains.

Healthcare B2B tools share more DNA with fintech dashboards than with consumer wellness apps.

Fashion e-commerce shares more with travel marketplaces than with runway inspiration tools.

If you understand the pattern behind the problem, you can appeal to companies across different industries without diluting your relevance.

That’s the sweet spot: specific enough to make you interesting, broad enough to keep your options open.

Choosing the Right Projects With That Lens

When selecting projects, the question isn’t “What looks pretty?” or even “What was fun to do?”

The question is:

Does this project move me closer to the roles I want to be considered for?

A strong example of this strategy is someone using a background in landscape design to build a workflow tool rooted in that space — but framed around problems that exist far beyond it: planning, resource management, collaboration, and decision-making. It’s industry-aware without being industry-locked.

Likewise, a fashion-focused designer can build an e-commerce case that appeals to retail, marketplaces, travel, fintech checkout systems — essentially anywhere where catalog structure, filtering logic, and conversion flows matter.

The key is to pick projects that sit in a problem space broad enough to travel well, but specific enough to feel credible.

Modern Tools Help — But They’re Not the Point

One meaningful difference today is that juniors now have access to tools that allow them to make case studies feel more realistic:

• Rapid prototyping through platforms like Lovable

• AI-assisted research and framing

• The ability to generate functional prototypes instead of static screens

• The option to create small, practical design-system snippets for demonstration

These tools can deepen your work and help you simulate real-world constraints, even if you haven’t worked professionally yet.

But they should remain complements, not the centrepiece.

A well-chosen project with clear reasoning will always be more valuable than a flashy prototype built for the sake of novelty.

If your niche or interest area offers an opportunity to show technical depth — like incorporating a small design system layer or embedding a real prototype — that can be a differentiator. But it’s not required.

When You’re Unsure What to Include

If you struggle to evaluate your own projects, outside perspective helps — and not everyone has access to mentors.

This is where tools like my Case Study Coach GPT can help you pressure-test your choices, identify gaps, or reframe your existing projects in a clearer, more strategic way. It follows the same reasoning I’m outlining here and can help you move faster through the decision-making process.

Summary

The case studies you choose define your trajectory.

They show not only what you can do, but what you want to be doing.

In 2025, the bar is higher.

There are more applicants, better tooling, and more noise.

But the fundamentals haven’t changed:

A strong portfolio feels intentional.

Your projects speak the language of the roles you want.

They highlight patterns, not random ideas.

They reinforce where you’re heading, not where you’ve been.

If you build your portfolio with that clarity, your projects won’t just be projects.

They will be signals — and the right people will pick them up.

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👀 Portfolio Showcase

Today: Inika Jhamvar

A memorable portfolio is becoming increasingly rare — especially one that succeeds through personality, clarity, and strong foundational work rather than heavy visual overproduction. Inika Jhamvar, a graduate student at the University of Maryland with prior design experience in India, manages to deliver exactly that. Her portfolio immediately stands out for its creativity, playfulness, and a uniquely expressive interface that is undeniably her own.

What grabbed me first was the surface: a Framer-built, macOS-style desktop environment with draggable folders, easter eggs, playful micro-interactions, and delightfully thoughtful touches. But beneath that, there’s a designer who can clearly think, structure, and execute — someone who understands usability, interaction, and cohesion even if the portfolio isn’t fully polished yet in how the work is delivered.

This is a portfolio that will stick in people’s minds. It has a clear point of view, it is fun, and it is expressive in a way that feels intentional rather than gimmicky. And while the substance is there, there’s also unmistakable room to grow — especially in how the work is presented and accessed.

Let’s break it down.

That’s it for this week—thanks so much for the support! ♥️

Do you want your own portfolio reviewed in-depth with a 30-minute advice-packed video review? Or do you require mentoring to figure out a proper strategy for your job search?

I got you!

• Book an in-depth portfolio or resume review with me

• Book a mentoring session with me

• Book a quick 15 min chat to ask a question and see if we vibe

Keep kicking doors open and see you next week!
- Florian